Black in Period Films

I watched thi s  film the other day ju st to  see if there were any black people in the film. If they were pre sent in the film I wanted to con sider their treatment. Being that thi s film i s made  specifically for 9 to 11 year old girl s, I did not expect much repre sentation or hi storical in sight. I feel in many way s that thi s film i s more hi storically accurate than many film s aimed toward s adult.  Fir st and foremo st the film take s place in 1774 in William sburg, Virginia;  around the time the American colonie s began talking of revolution. There were two black character s that were given name s: Ro s e and Marcu s. However, throughout the entire film black s could been  seen going about their normal day to day lives.  Marcus works at the family shop Rose cooking             There i s never a mention to whether Ro se and Marcu s were free  servant s or  slave s (in the film). Thi s movie i s ba sed on a  serie s of book s (that I haven't read), perha

Je s sica Luca s and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje have been ca sted in a new period film named Pompeii!  Excited becau se the film i s  set in 79 A.D. The film take s place day s before the eruption of Mt. Ve suviu s. It i s about a  slave named Milo (played by Kit Harington) that ha s to  save the woman he love s. Akinnuoye-Agbaje will play Milo' s friend who i s al so a  slave. Milo' s love i s Flavia(Emily Browning). Luca s will be playing Flavia' s friend and i s al so a  slave.  Something intere sting to note i s that the  script wa s revi sed by Julian Fellowe s the creator of Downton Abbey.

Dawn Chambers is the first black employee at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce advertising agency. Mad Men is set in the 1960's. These pictures are not from the show they are from a BuisnessWeek article on secretaries. Dawn Chambers is Don Draper's secretary. She does not look this fabulous on the show but I really wish she did! Many people were excited about her casting because of the lack of Blacks (and other people of color) on Mad Men. But it seems that Dawn has received minimal characterization. Which is expected but still sucks.

August King was an interesting film. There were some things that gave me pause. The main thing being all of the animal killings during the two character's journey. I'm not sure if the writer included these deaths to symbolize the importance of human life over animal life or just that sacrifices must be made for the greater good. Annalees (Thandie Newton) is a runaway slave looking for help. He was the only slave owner in the area.  The main character is a white man named August King. He helps a runaway slave escape to the North. Watching this film it is very clear that the journey this film takes us on is for August King's benefit not Annalees'. Her characterization is low but I will include everything I could pick up about Annalees. She offers August a silver watch for his help.  Other name less Black folks in the film. All belonged to the same master. Her father is her master. she was